Sleepless in Michigan

It was another warm, sticky night and sleep eluded me. After an hour of tossing and turning, flinging the sheet on and off more times than I can count, I finally turned the air on again. I hate the idea of turning the air conditioning on in the fall, it goes against everything I believe in.

Kevin has been out of town for several days and I don't sleep well when he's away. I think I began dozing around 1:00 a.m. I fell asleep and then woke and fell asleep and woke. This continued for several hours. When I started dreaming, I heard the noise. A whine, but because of the dream, I couldn't place it. What was that sound? Struggling to wake myself, I rolled over and looked at the clock, it was 3:10 a.m. Then I heard it again and realized it was Oliver. He never cries to go out at that hour.

I grabbed my robe and plodded down the stairs. As I opened the door, a sour smell hit me. Oliver had gotten sick in his bed, poor guy. He raced towards the door and I turned on the porch light so he could see where to go. I went back and took out the cushion from his bed and put it out in the garage and wiped up the other areas that were hit. When he came back in, I showed him his bed and closed the door. He was not happy with me.

So back up the stairs I went. I climbed into bed and pulled up the sheet once again. I could still hear Oliver whimpering a bit, but by this time I was wide awake. I tried to ignore it, but my brain wouldn't stop. Have you ever started organizing your house in your head? By the time 5:15 rolled around, I had reorganized every closet and drawer in the house. My oven, stove, refrigerator and microwave had been cleaned. All the laundry done, the cobwebs brushed down out of the corners and the bathrooms sparkling. I also wrote several e-mails and grocery shopped.

I got up at that point and woke Lance up because he needed to shower before school. I put in a load of laundry and turned on the dishwasher. After that, I made him breakfast, packed his lunch and sent him out the door. I put the wet clothes in the dryer and put Oliver's bed in the washer. I then turned on the TV and watched the program I recorded last night. That's when I started to get tired and droopy eyed.

Now, I think I will have to take a nap. So all the cleaning and organizing I did in my head last night, still needs to be done in reality and I can honestly say, that it is not happening today.

Yawn.....

I lay down and slept;I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. Psalm 3:4-5

More Bits and Pieces

It has been a while since I have posted. You know how life gets...busy, to say the least.

We started our new small group, it is great to be with people who want to study the Word like we do. Our study is the Truth Project from Focus on the Family.

The fall flowers are blooming in my front yard. Aren't these beautiful?

I met with my book club for the first time last week. The book was intriguing, Safely Home by Randy Alcorn.

Lance has been to the doctors' for bronchitis several times. He now has a nasty cough resulting from his bronchial tubes spasming. He has to use an inhaler, it was quite difficult teaching him how to use it. Lance also had an MRI and an MRA done last week in which he was put to sleep for. This ended up being a very long day. His dental surgery has been scheduled for the end of October. No coverage for it, so I have been calling around to see if there is some place or organization that would help with the $7000.00 min. cost. That is government healthcare for you. Sigh...

Love, love, love the weather!!! It has been absolutely gorgeous this fall.

Had a crown done this past week, another two in the next month. Geesh...

Kevin is leaving for training in CA tomorrow. I might get the chance to go see a movie or two while he is gone. Thanks Ang.

We finally became members of our church. We have been attending for almost two years and decided it was time to be committed. It is a great church!

Watched the first televised Red Wings game last night. It was a preseason game, so the lost doesn't count. (That is a relief!)

Only three more months until Brigette graduates. Everyone is happy for that!!!

Did I say that I am loving the weather? Cool nights, warm days and blue skies. Ahhhh...

Something Green Growing

It was a bad night. I tossed and turned with the achies. Lance is recovering from a bad case of bronchitis, so he and I been home for over ten days. Kevin was visiting his sister and our friends up north. I thought the weekend would be quite long, but to my surprise it wasn't. Laying in bed this morning, feeling the cool air blowing through the door and window, listening to quiet chirping of the birds waking up and the soft wind blowing through the trees, I realized just how blessed I am.

If you have been a reader of mine for any length of time, you will remember my lamenting over the last year of being moved back to the north. We lived in the south for almost five years. I grew to love the south, the warmth of the climate, the warmth of the people, my family and the proximity of the ocean and mountains. I hated moving back. Most of family no longer live here, and it's funny how friendships change even if you don't want them to.

But, over the past few weeks, I began to treasure once again, the blessing of the beautiful Michigan late summer season. The warm days and cool evenings. The gorgeous dark velvet green lawns and lovely late blooming flowers. The drunk bees buzzing and abundance of fruits and veggies being harvested. The windows are open and the smell is something I just can't describe. So fresh. The late summer rain is a wonderful sound. Even all the dogs barking at the crazy squirrels running around trying to hide the black walnuts anywhere they can, is a noise I enjoy. It was a wonderful weekend.

I am learning to grow where I am planted. I am even looking forward to changing leaves, apples cider and donuts and walks wearing a sweatshirt. I am also looking forward to the new friends I will be making with the new small group and book club I am attending. I love how much my in-laws have come to mean to me.

I thank God for being my source, my family, my best friend. For helping me adjust to the change in my life. It took a long time, because I don't adapt to well to change, but His patience and kindness is good.

I am in a good place, geographically, emotionally and spiritually. I can see a little green sprout growing out of what I once thought was dead.

Today's Chuckle

I get many e-mail forwards from friends, and to be honest, I usually don't do too much with them. I may possibly read them, but most often hit the delete button. Today was a little different, I read this and thought it was cute. So, I am going to post it. If you have read it, just ignore it. If you haven't, enjoy it.

• Gentle Thoughts for Today -
• Birds of a feather flock together . . . .and then crap on your car.
• A penny saved is a government oversight.
• The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
• The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.
• The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement ..
• He who hesitates is probably right.
• Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are XL.
• 'If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.
• If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
• The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
• There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.
• Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells 'Theirs....
• 'Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
• The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
• Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
• When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of Algebra.
• You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
• One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young..
• Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
• Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it's called golf.

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth . .. . . . . . AMEN!

Remembering Summer, Take II

Writing yesterday's post opened up a flood gate of memories, so I thought I would add a few more.

Watching Dad as he sprayed lighter fluid on the charcoal and then listening to the big Whoosh as the match was thrown on.

Jumping double dutch, hula hoops, four square and dodge ball.

Being at a friend's house and swimming in our underwear.

Being allowed to play kick the can with the big kids in the street light after dark.

Wandering through the bamboo grove when it finally grew above our heads.

Playing house in the same bamboo grove.

Helping Mom hang out the clothes on the clothes line and then watching them whip in the wind.

Standing at the door calling Ju-dy, Ju-dy, instead of knocking or ringing the bell when we wanted our friends to come out to play.

Swinging so high on the swings and then jumping off to see how far we could go without hurting ourselves.

Having lunch out on the picnic table everyday so we wouldn't mess up the dinning room after mom had cleaned it.

Hurrying up to finish our chores so we could be the first ones outside.

Picking up the apples under the apple tree and then polishing them on our shirts until they shined before eating them.

Coming in when the street lights came on.

What are some more of your memories?

Remembering Summer

Do you remember catching lightening bugs and putting them into empty mayonnaise jars with holes popped in the lids?

I love summer, the sights, the sounds, the smells and the feel. With the drizzly, damp, chilly, dark day today, I am lamenting that summer is almost gone. But instead of feeling down, I started to think back to the days when we didn't have air conditioning in our house or cars, when the kids played outside instead of sitting in front of a TV or computer and when summers were old fashioned fun.

Kids riding bikes with streamers hanging off the handle bars and a playing card clothes pinned to the spoke on the back wheel making the bike sound like it was racing down the street.

Grampa sitting in a lawnchair, listening to Ernie Harwell calling the Tigers' game on the radio, while the other men in the family were drinking a cold brew, congregated around the horseshoe pits.

Hanging upside down by our knees on the crossbars of the big swing set.

Standing in the long line at the Dairy Queen waiting to get our chocolate baby ice cream cone.

Climbing the big maple tree in the yard.

Riding in the car with all the windows down and the wind blowing in our faces, smelling the diesel smell of the trucks as we passed by.

Laying in bed on a Saturday night, with the windows open, listening to the race cars racing around the track at the Mt. Clemens Race Track five miles away.

Playing tag, red rover red rover, statue and red light green light in the front yard with all the other kids in the neighborhood.

Laying down in the middle of the grass looking up at the clouds, trying to figure out what shapes they made.

Penny candy like squirrels and candy cigarettes or Mary Jane's and black licorice whips.

The smell of freshly cut grass when it was too long and playing in the big piles of grass that didn't get raked up.

Running through the sprinkler.

Shucking corn on the back porch.

Listening to the crickets chirp outside the open window.

Summer memories, they are the best.

Oh What a Morning!

I need to preface this post a bit.

For those of you who do not have dogs, will laugh like crazy and say, "that's why I don't have a dog"! For those of you with young children will say, "I understand...geesh, kids"!

Let start with this. Last year, coming off the worst time in my life, I was very lonely and wanted (needed!!!) some company during the day. We found Oliver, read here. Yes, I wanted a little doggie to love and more importantly, a little doggie to love me back. If you have been reading this blog for some time now, you will remember my past blogs about the trials of training my little Oliver. He has been something, but he is older and has turned into a pretty good dog (I thought).

For those of you who may be new to reading this blog, we have a grown man who will, unless God performs a miracle, forever be a little boy. Our Lance is disabled, read here, so it is like having a child in the house (all the time, everyday, morning and night...forever and ever...) he is our joy and full of laughter and kidding and we love him to pieces. That is why I can joke about having him here all the time. Anyway, I digress...

Back to Oliver. What I love about Oliver is that he loves people. The door bell rings and races to the door crying, he wants to greet whoever may be coming through the door. He hates to be by himself. He quite literally, lays on our feet just to be touching us, (which is hard when you are going through menopause and having lots of hot flashes). He never wants to be alone.

Lance is an early riser, but usually I am up before he is and have to wake him for school. He catches the bus at 6:33 a.m. (yes, it really is 6:33, I can't believe a driver can calculate the time to be exactly 6:33 every single morning, but he does. 6:33.)

This week Lance is on Summer break, he has two weeks off before the start of the new school year, so he could have slept in.

Kevin left extra early this morning, so I made his lunch (he packs a lunch everyday to save money) last night. That way I could sleep in a little bit later than normal.

This is what happened:

Oliver crept into my room at 5:30a.m. and began to cry. I got up and put him outside, even though Kevin had already let him out. He just didn't want to be alone. When he came back in, I told him to go lay down, it was still dark in the house and I knew he could go back to sleep. I thought...

At 5:55a.m. Lance walks into my room and tells me he stepped in something. I jumped up and turned on the light and that's when I saw it. There is was, tracked from one end of the hallway (we have a long bridge that connects the back bedrooms, across the open area of the great room, to the master bedroom) all the way into my room. (If you have certain sensibilities, you may want to skip the next word or two, or even the next few lines.)

Dog *&$%, yes, dog crap, okay for propriety's sake, doggie doo. Our little Oliver was mad at me for going back to bed and decided to show me how mad he was. And our Lance, instead of stopping and avoiding the rest of the $@#*, walked all the way to my room just to tell me about it.

So, at 6:00a.m. I am scrubbing 15, the nerd in me counted, 15 spots, regretting getting a doggie to keep me company and silently cursing a kid who can't sleep past 6:00a.m.

Now I have to decide, am I going back to bed to take a nap or do I stay up and feel groggy all day long...do I trust the two of them? Nooooo....so groggy it is.

Kids and dogs, what fodder for blogging.